Tibet - China

BEIJING (AP) — A human rights group says a Tibetan man set himself on fire and died at a prominent monastery in northwestern China in the latest such protest against Chinese rule over the Himalayan region.

London-based Free Tibet said the man identified as Dhondup set fire to himself near the prayer hall at the remote Labrang Monastery in Gansu province Monday.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted a provincial government official as saying a 63-year-old herdsman set himself ablaze at the monastery Monday morning. The report did not give the man's name or say whether he survived.

The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades.

Free Tibet said Monday's self-immolation was the first to take place there.